The City
Monuments
The city centre of
Lahore contains
three fine Mughal
buildings, all of
which served
disparate functions
during the 19th
century. Where one
of them i.e. Dai
Anga's Mosque was
returned to its
original use of a
mosque, the other
two continue to be
used for deviant
functions compared
to the original
intent.
Anarkali's Tomb
The first building
in the group is part
of the compound of
Punjab Secretariat
on Lower Mall, and
is located at the
rear of Chief
Secretary's Office.
Since the tomb is
utilized as the
Punjab Archives,
access to the
building is
restricted. Make
sure that you plan a
visit to it during
office hours,
otherwise you will
find the gates to
the secretariat
locked and the
sentry at the gate
unwilling to allow
even a peep.
Among the earliest
extant Mughal tombs,
Anarkali's sepulchre
is also one of the
most significant
Mughal
 buildings
of the period. Not
only is it a "most
ingeniously planned
octagonal building",
it is a memorial to
the love-legend
centering around
shahzada Salim
(later emperor
Jahangir), and
Anarkali
(pomegranate kernel)
who belonged to the
harem of emperor
Akbar, Salim's
father. Although
Mughal sources are
silent about
Anarkali, European
contemporary
travellers such as
William Finch
related the popular
gossip rife at the
time, mentioning her
as Akbar's "most
beloved wife."
Latif, quoting
popular legend, says
that Sharfunnisa or
Nadira Begam, with
the title of
Anarkali, was found
giving a return
smile to the prince
by the emperor in
the mirrors of his
palace. Suspecting
an intrigue or
worse, Akbar ordered
Anarkali to be
interred alive.
Accordingly, she was
placed in an upright
position and buried
alive in a masonry
wall, brick by
brick. The prince,
who must have been
devastated, on
succeeding the
throne in 1605, "had
an immense
superstructure
raised over her
sepulchre" 16 years
after her death.
The sarcophagus of
pure marble and
"exquisite
workmanship" is, in
view of 19th century
scholars, "one of
the finest pieces of
carving in the
world." The Persian
couplet inscribed on
the sarcophagus has
been translated by
Latif into English.
"Ah! could I behold
the face of my
beloved once more, I
would give thanks
unto my God until
the day of
resurrection," and
is signed "Majnoon
Salim Akbar" or "The
profoundly enamoured
Salim, son of Akbar"
and expresses
Jahangir's intense
passion for the
beautiful Anarkali.
No doubt the two
inscribed dates 1008
[1599] and 1024
[1615] refer to the
date of Anarkali's
death and the
completion of the
sepulchre
respectively.
The tomb, once set
off as the
centrepiece of a
beautifully laid out
garden setting, is
today hemmed in by
the structures
surrounding it.
However, it is this
tomb which gifted
the name Anarkali to
the whole area when
the British first
set up a cantonment
here. The monument
employs a popular
format using an
octagonal plan.
Architecturally,
however, it is
unique in its
utilization of
semi-octagonal
towers dominating
each corner, rising
well above the walls
and terminated with
cupolas over
pavilion-like
kiosks. A low
pitched dome—among
the earliest Mughal
examples of
double-dome—spans
the central chamber
and is carried on a
drum or neck.
Over the last couple
of hundred years,
the tomb has been
put to several uses.
In the first half of
19th century it
served as the
residence of Ranjit
Singh's French
general Jean
Baptiste Ventura's
Armenian wife. From
1847 it was used as
offices for the
clerical staff of
the first British
Resident, Henry
Lawrence. From 1851
it was the venue for
divine service,
while in early 1857
it was consecrated
as St. James'
Church, later being
declared a Pro-
Cathedral.
Today the monument
appears as a simple,
whitewashed massive
brick structure,
robbed of its
decorative veneer,
and its apertures
and aiwan profiles
filled in to serve
its varied usage.
However, the
internal spaces,
inspite of the
alteration, are
exciting, the
viewing of which
coupled with the
amazing treasure of
archival material of
Punjab Archives—set
up as Punjab Record
Office in 1891, when
the cathedral was
shifted to its new
premises—is
wonderfully
rewarding. For those
interested in
history of the
British Punjab, it
is a treasure trove,
for, along with rare
images and other
documents, files
dating back to the
earliest days of
British
administration are
carefully and
meticulously
maintained here.
Wazir Khan's
Baradari
This building has
also been put to
another usage—that
of a library. It is
located in the rear
of the Lahore Museum
and is approached
from Punjab Public
Library Road.
As the name
suggests, the
building is named
after its founder
Hakim Ilmuddin
titled Wazir Khan,
the same grandee
ofShahjahan's court
who gifted the city
of Lahore with such
sumptuous monuments
as
 Wazir Khan's
Mosque and Wazir
Khan's Hammam, also
known as Shahi
Hammam, in the
Walled City
(detailed later in
this Rahguzar), and
the one who was
entrusted with the
construction of
Khwabgah-e-Shahjahani
in the citadel on
the emperor's first
visit to Lahore in
1634.
The chronicles
record how Wazir
Khan, after having
completed his
spectacular mosque,
turned his attention
to laying out a fine
garden—a garden
which became known
as Wazir Khan's
Nakhlia Garden
because of the large
number of date-palm
trees. In the middle
of the Nakhlia
Garden he built an
elegant baradari,
which has carried
his name to this
day.
The baradari (lit.
twelve openings) was
so titled because of
a sehdara centre and
flanking
deeply-inset arched
openings orpeshtaq
on each side of the
square, resulting in
12 dars or doorways
openings. The two
storey pavilion-like
structure is
dominated by four
corner belvedere
towers, terminated
by sloping chajjas
(eaves) and capped
by cupolas.
As in the case of
Anarkali's tomb,
this monument also
has undergone
extensive
alterations having
served varied
functions: as part
of Sikh and British
cantonments, as the
Settlement and
Telegraph office,
and also as a
museum. Its use as
Punjab Public
Library, was lauded
by Latif: "A nobler
aim it could not
have served. The
founder of the
building was himself
a patron of learning
and a profound
scholar, and the
association of his
name with an
institution pregnant
with such
significant results
for the rising
generation of the
Panjab may be
regarded as a happy
coincidence."
Mosque of Dai
Anga
This Mughal mosque
is situated in the
Naulakha area,
southeast of the
fortress-like
railway station. You
can approach it from
the railway station,
but it might be
simpler to travel
northeast on
Nicholson Road from
Qila Gujjar Singh
Chowk, and continue
straight across
Allama Iqbal Road
(formerly Mayo
Road), past the
Presbyterian Church
(see Firangi
Rahguzar) and
Boharwala Chowk.
The comparatively
narrow road veers
left, terminating in
a dead end at a gate
guarding the railway
platform beyond the
fence.
On the left is a
gate behind which is
situated a mosque
built by Dai Anga
Zebunnisa, a wet
nurse of Emperor
Shahjahan. Her
family had been
closely associated
with the Mughal
imperial family her
husband Morad Khan
served Jahangir as
Adawla ti or
Magistrate of
Bikaner, and her son
Muhammad Rashid
Khan, reputed to be
one of the best
archers in the
kingdom, died
fighting in the
service of
Shahjahan's eldest
born Dara Shikoh.
Zebunnisa herself
was highly regarded
by Shahjahan.
Passing through the
gate one is overawed
by the magnificent
structure of. Dai
Anga's mosque.
Although a lot of
restoration work has
been carried out on
the building—much
appears to belong to
later-period
restorative
efforts—it cannot
take away from the
magnificence of the
original structure.
The design of the
mosque is based on a
single-aisle 3-bay
plan form—a
comparatively
simplified version
of the spectacular
mosques built by the
Mughals. But the
handsome proportions
of the building, the
treatment of facade
into panels,
embellished with
scintillating
multicoloured tile
mosaic, a favourite
decorative medium
during Shahjahan's
days, yields one of
the most spectacular
facades of the
period. A 19'
diameter dome in the
middle flanked by
two 16' domes, along
with corner
minarets, adds to
the imposing
character of the
mosque. The central
lofty Timurid iwan
alcove, flanked by
two smaller ones, as
embellished as the
facade, along with
their decorative
Cfalib kari or
stalactite squinches
represent the best
of the Shahjahani
Period.
The tall minarets
rising from a square
base on the two
front extremities
are terminated with
kiosk-like
structures carrying
cupolas. Although
simply treated
today, they were no
doubt once decorated
with tile mosaic in
the manner of those
found in the mosque
of Shahjahan's
grandee, Wazir Khan.
The 84' wide
platform, no doubt
once part of the
mosque courtyard, is
paved with
beautifully laid
brick flooring
divided into a
simple square
pattern.
Latif believes that
the mosque was built
in 1045 /1635,
before Dai Anga went
to perform Hajj.
However, the
inscription in the
mosque is said to
date it to
1060/1649.
The mosque was
well-maintained and
frequented by
worshippers, due to
the waq/'(bequest)
by Dai Anga of her
extensive property
for the maintenance
of the mosque. Once
the Mughal Empire
declined, this
mosque, along with
many other Mughal
monuments, did duty
as Ranjit Singh's
military magazine.
After the annexation
of the Punjab by the
British, Henry Cope,
editor of the
newspaper 'Lahore
Chronicle' must have
been pleased to have
been allowed its use
as his residence.
What a splendid
residence it must
have been! However,
later when the area,
once known as
Mohallah Dai Anga
and populated by
Mughal nobility, was
acquired by the
Punjab and Delhi
Railway Co., Cope
sold the
mosque-residence to
them for Rs. 12,000,
and they converted
it into the office
of the traffic
manager, Punjab
Northern State
Railway.
After Lord Curzon
expressed his horror
at the debased usage
many of the historic
monuments had been
put to, in 1903 Dai
Anga's mosque was
returned to the
Muslims of Lahore.The Ravi Monument
G.T. Road/Baghbanpura Monuments
Canal Bank & Mian Mir Monuments
Chauburji & Nawankot Monuments
The City Monuments
The Walled City Monuments
Wazir Khan Monuments |
